


Erase

by orphan_account



Series: Darkstuck [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, DarkStuck, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sequel to Devour. You should probably read that first. Now it's Dave's turn to enter the fold and gain freaky new Demon powers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Remnisce

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the summary, this is the sequel to Devour. If you haven't read that yet, you should do so now. It was written by a talented, skilled, imaginative (and quite good looking, if I do say so myself), and above all HUMBLE author.

_This is what the poets told_

_La le lo, so they told_

_Came a man lacking desire_

_Nullifying all with ire_

_Life, he couldn’t face her_

_So he was known as The Eraser_

Dave (fucking) Strider is currently eating a sushi dinner with his lovely girlfriend, Jade. He sighs silently; being such an amazing boyfriend isn’t easy.

All four of them were orphans, but three of them had gotten adopted. John had ended up with the highly supportive helicopter father, Rose ended up with an irresponsible alcoholic for a mother, albeit one who doted on her daughter. Dave got the type of guardian who decided: _Hey! Screw parental figures, we’re gonna be brothers!_ It actually worked (somehow), probably due to his extensive combat training. His brother could be a certified drill sergeant if he wanted, and had bequeathed all of his combat knowledge to his younger brother (son?).

Dave laughs a little, remembering one time a thirty year old man had tried to mug a thirteen year old Dave. It hadn’t ended well for the former.

However, Jade never did find a family. She spent her entire life locked away in the orphanage, beaten terribly by the wicked old caretaker, verbally abused and forced to do menial labor all day!

(At least, that’s how Dave imagines it. She really doesn’t like to talk about it.)

The one thing he does know about her former life was that in her in her loneliness, she turned to the internet for company. Through extensive study and perusing the great Wikipedia, she managed to gain a college level education at the tender age of fifteen. That was around when she and John had met.

The four friend’s coming together was a strange tale indeed. John and Dave met first when John was vacationing to Texas with his father. Heck, they had met when Dave was giving the beat down to the thirty year old mugger. John had come up to him, wide eyed and comparing him to some Nicholas Cage dude. Dave really hadn’t understood much of what the kid was saying, but he seemed fairly interesting so they exchanged Chum handles and soon after became best buds.

Rose had met Dave about a year after that. Using her mother’s extensive resources, he had performed a genealogy test to try and find her birth mother. While she had no luck there, she did come across the fact that she and Dave were almost certainly brother and sister. And holy shit did that seem likely- two of the most introverted people in existence, both albinos, both incredibly snarky. Dave introduced his “sister” to John via the internet, and those two hit off the most unlikely friendship in existence. John had always been a little infatuated with his sister, but Dave had never imagined that his sister would actually return the feelings. Yet much to his surprise, they became a couple two years later.

About three months after John and Rose had met, John had stumbled across Jade online, and they immediately found a connection. He introduced her to the rest of the gang, and they became the ~~three~~ four amigos. When they all chatted online, Dave often joked that Jade and John were probably related too—the similarities were uncanny.

Almost three years later, they all ended up with their eyes set on the same college, UGU. Rose and Jade wowed the scholarships, Dirk was pretty rich and Dave was fairly smart, and John did… okay. He got a few minor scholarships, but luckily his dad had won lots of money through baking competitions (John was incredibly ashamed of that money. Seriously, he acted as if his dad danced on a pole for the money, the way he went on about it).

And then three months ago, all four kids had ended up in the same place for the first time. There was much rejoicing, John brought a shitty movie to watch, and everyone pretended to enjoy it. Later that week Dave and Jade became a couple, and John Egbert approved.

Then one month ago, Egbert passed out in an alleyway, waking up with freaky new demon powers. He broke the news to them three days ago.

“Mmmmmm, this is good!”

Dave starts, snapping out of his reverie.

“Eh? Yeah, I told you there’s nothing to be afraid of, sushi rocks!”

“Ahem, who was the one moaning and whining about having sushi tonight?”

“Please, Harely. Striders don’t whine. They just complain ironically.”

He grins as she giggles. Having spent her whole life in an orphanage with nothing but thin gruel and bread crusts to eat (as Dave often assumed) Jade often wanted to try foreign foods, or visit museums or aquariums. She really threw herself at the unknown.

Dave sets down his chopsticks (his Strider blood gave him an innate mastery over the tools) and grins at Jade. “So, what do you want to try next week?”

“Hmmmm…. How about Indian cuisine?”

“I see, I see. Well, I’ll look into that. G’night, princess.” He says, giving her a mock bow.

She giggles at this. “Goodnight, my knight.”


	2. Rebirth

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!  


Dave groans, rolling out of bed. He flounders around for a bit, slamming he fist against his dresser until he manages to strike the alarm. He fumbles around for his shades before locating and sliding them on. He proceeds to stumble out for a cup of coffee. John, the late sleeper that he is, is still snoozing quietly in his room.  


With a cup of hot, bitter liquid gold in his gullet, Dave feels ready to take on the world. He walks back to his room—scratch that, he saunters back to his room (he is a Strider, after all)—to change. He opens the closet and offers his school clothes a piercing glare. He scrutinizes the row of matching red shirt, narrows his eyes at the neat pile of identical black slacks, and eyes the line of black ties. Decisions, decisions.  
  
After nearly ten minutes of picking out clothes, making sure his hair was just right (and he called Egbert a girl…), making sure his pearly whites were perfection, he pulls on a dark red sports coat and leaves to make breakfast. Then he notices John, much to his chagrin. The contrast between the two of them couldn’t be greater. There was Dave, slick and smooth, freakin cool and certified ninja, never without nice clothes and his trademark shades, and then…  


John Egbert wearing a wrinkled blue t shirt and torn jeans, also sporting jarring red converse and a rumpled green jacket. His hair was completely unkempt (for Christ’s sake, can’t you at least do something about your hair!?), and his comically oversized glasses. 

He glances up at Dave from a bowl of Apple Jacks, his wide blue eyes seemingly three times bigger with his glasses on.  


“Hey Dave, how’s it going?”  


He stifles a yawn. “Just… peachy. God I need more coffee…”

  
John laughs as Dave pours himself another mug. “I can imagine. I was asleep before you! Do you know how often that happens?”  


“Exactly.” He sighs, a dreamy smile forming on his face. “But it was definitely worth it…”  


John snaps his fingers in front of Dave’s face a few times. “Hello? Hello? Heeeeellllooooo? Earth to Dave!” he laughs.  


“Wh- Oh shit, I have to go!”  
He grabs a banana from the counter and runs out the door, ravenously cramming it in his mouth. He was a rising star in the DJing club at school, and he couldn’t afford to be late. As he races down the street, he pulls out his phone to check for messages. Just one, a reminder from the hospital that he has to come in later today for a routing check up. He shrugs, throws it back into his pocket, and continues on his course.  


Ten minutes later, Dave rounds a corner, dodges an old granny, and runs straight past the gate to le parkour over the fence _BECAUSE HE’S DAVE MOTHERFUCKING STRIDER, GOD DAMN IT!_ He pauses to catch his breath, fixes his hair, and then finally ambles into the school to start sending out some sick beats.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  


“Right, so I’ll you at home then?” John asks as the two of them walk down the hallway, he to that calculus class he won’t stop whining about, Dave straight out the door.  


“Yeah… wait, no! I forgot, I gotta go get some check up at the hospital, so I don’t really know when I’ll be back.”

 

“Oh, alright. Well….. bluuuhhhh…” He sighs, looking at the classroom with sense of foreboding. “You think my dad would kill me if I skipped class today?”  


“Your dad? Meh, probably not. Rose…?” He doesn’t really need to finish that sentence.  


John grimaces, gives him a nod, and heads to the classroom. “You know where my Will is!”  


Dave merely chuckles and heads for the door.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  


“Mhmmmmm…. Daaaaaaaave Strider…… Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…… Mhmmmmm……. Let’s see here…..” 

The receptionist Slooooooooooooooowly goes through her files, giving each one a loooooooooooong look over before moving onto the next one. It’s all Dave can do to keep from expressing his irritation. Violently. He takes a deep breath. Come on man, you’re Dave STRIDER! You don’t get worked up over these things. Everything cool. Like Alaska cool. Siberia cool. WOULD YOU HURRY UP AND TELL ME WHERE I’M SUPPOSED TO GO, GOD DAMN IT!?  


“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessss…… Mhhhhhhhhmmmmmhmmmmhmmmhmhmhmmh… Striiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiider……. Ah, here you are! Go to the third floor, room 318B.  


“Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank Yoooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuu.” He snarks before quickly making his way to the elevator. Finally! He leans back into a corner and thinks happy thought while cliché elevator music plays in the background.  
With a ding, the elevator doors slide open and Dave beelines to his room. After a few moments a nurse walks in, all smiles and cheers. They make small talk while she takes his blood pressure, pricks his finger, listens to his heart beat, et cetera, et cetera. After a short while, she smiles and informs him that the doctor will be right in.  


A few minutes later, who should walk in but Doctor Scratch? Dave regards him coolly. “Sup? Uhhh, where’s Doctor Salvadore?” Salvadore was a cheerful old German dude who was supposed to be in charge of today’s checkup.  


Scratch laughs. “John said you liked irony, so you’ll love this one. The doctor’s out sick.” He gives him a warm grin. “I was the next qualified person available, so here I am.”  


Dave nods. That sounds reasonable. “So, anything wrong with me?”  


“Ah, just one thing. It appears you accidentally missed a vaccine, against an avidus delere. Happens occasionally, the hospital is a busy place and it’s awfully easy to make mistakes… but no worries, I have the shot here, so it’ll only take a few seconds.”  
Dave nods as the man swabs his arm, preps the needle, an—HOLY SHIT THAT HURTS—d injects Dave. Dave gives him another nod. 

“That it?”  


“Yes. Wait, uh, it’s quite rare, but there have been a few cases up people having a terrible allergic reaction to the vaccine, so take one of these,” Doctor Scratch hands him a blister pack of large white pills, “if you notice any severe pains in the next twenty-four hours. If the pain persists for over an hour after you’ve taken the pills, call us. Those suppress the allergic reaction so that it will be safe for the medicine to take its course. You have pills for a little over a week, if the pain persists after that call us.” He scribbles a few things on his notepad and flips through a few pages in Dave’s file. “Aaaaaand, that should do it. We’ve already charged your Fath—errr, brother, so you are good to go.” The man nods at Dave again, bright blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “Have a nice day.”  
Dave nods at the man and exits. “You too bro, you too.”  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........................  


He snaps awake in the middle of the night, convulsing and hacking. It feels like there’s liquid fire running through his veins; he thinks he’s going to die and it’s all he can do to keep from screaming.  
He falls out of bed and scours his nightstand for his pills with his right hand, knocking everything off the table. The pills! He grabs them desperately and rips open a tab, fumbling and almost dropping the pill. There’s no time for water, he just sticks them in his maw trying to force them down his throat in between coughs. He gets them down eventually, and lies there in the fetal position for what feels like hours before the agony finally eases. Shivering, coated in sweat, he spends the rest of the night on the floor praying that the pain won’t ever return.

 

John sits on his bed in the middle of the night in a form of meditation. He finds that as long as he doesn’t perform too many strenuous activities or use his powers for too long, he only needs about an hour or two of sleep. Right now he’s exerting his powers in attempt to fatigue himself, because he enjoys sleeping just as much as the next college student. Unlike other college students, however, he has three small vortexes floating around him in perfect symmetry, slowly and quietly sucking air to oblivion.  
John often ponders that. According to Rose, matter cannot be destroyed; neither can it be created, so what happens to the things he devours? Are they truly destroyed, or do they simply move elsewhere?  
A voice comes out from the darkness, startling him and causing the vortexes to twist in on themselves, vanishing.  


_**WE WELCOME TO STOIC DEMON ERASE TO THE FOLD**_  


What the hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, this one was a pain to put up. My computer completely broke not half an hour after I backed this series up, and right now I'm TRYING to upload this from a sight that really doesn't like the Archive for some reason, so formatting this is really difficult. Pray this works.


	3. Revision

_Three Days later_

“And you’re sure that everything’s alright?”

“Yes, _mother_.” Dave snarls back. He doesn’t mean to, he really doesn’t, but John’s been more worried than a helicopter-mother for a couple of days now, asking him if he’s alright about five times every day. “Seriously though, what’s wrong?”

“It’s... I don’t know, I have a really bad feeling.”

“Like, demon-senses tingling kinda thing?”

“Ummm... I guess. Just, let me know if anything happens, or you see anything.”

“Right. You haven’t told me that eight times already.” He frowns as he notices John is walking _away_ from their apartment. “Wait, where are you going?”

“It’s been a week, remember? Time to see the trolls. You coming?”

“Ah, no, got this stupid econ project due soon that I’ve been putting off too long. Is Rose coming with you?”

“She has literary club. And Jade is still convinced that they’re homicidal maniacs. Eh… she might actually be right about that. Anyways, bye.”

“I see. Well, be safe bro. See ya.”

They fist bump and go their separate ways. And Dave hunches his shoulders as John walks away, he wants to run back to his best bro and beg him not to leave him alone. Because he has the same bad feeling that John does.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

He shivers, alternating between feeling like he’s going to burn up and thinking that he’s going to freeze to death. Has he got a fever? Is he sick? He     can’t      think       straight        thought         process          slowing           down            everything              spinning                    fading                          dizzy        

ground                     rushing                                         up                                                  going                                     black                                                                          can’t                                                                                                                    think

.......................................................................................................................................

Karkat groans as soon as John walks up to the hive. “Damn it, I was hoping you wouldn’t bother coming back.”

“Great to see you too, Karat”

“DAMN IT, WHY ARE YOU SMILING!?”

“Well, you’re cheerful as ever.”

“Ghmzsdnboanbsdoansd…. AHHHHHH, JUST COME ON!

He grabs John’s sleeve and drags a protesting John down the mine. A few minutes later they come upon an old wooden door. Karkat bangs on the door, screaming “I’M COMING IN!”

Karkat barges in, John following meekly behind.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Dave lies on the floor, delirious. He crawls towards the table before bursting into a fit of giggles. He was going to take some pills, but why was he going to do that? He feels fine… he feels great!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Man, the room looks like a hurricane went through it. They’ve arrived in what seems to be a library—this must the archives that Gamzee mentioned. He gapes in awe at the shelves of book that go on forever and ever… he idly thinks to himself that Rose would love this place. Then his attention is drawn immediately in front of him to an assorted arrangement of about five desks piled high with books, papers, and files. Even more are on the floor.

A rather young looking troll glares are Karkat from behind his multi-colored glasses. “God damn it, Karkat! Would it kill you to knock!?”

“I DID KNOCK, ASSHAT!”  
“THAT DOESN’T COU… GRAAAAH! Forget it!”  His finally notices John, and scowls at him. “You the Noble Demon?”

“Ummm… yeah.”

The troll sighs. “Alright, I’m Sollux Captor. Just gimme a second here…”

The watches the troll—who has a fairly bad lisp, by the way—run around the room pulling papers out of files, knocking over stacks of books, trampling over papers…

John glances to another troll emerging from the shelves, a tired frown on her face. She shakes his hand wearily. “Hello demon, I am Kanaya. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I suppose.”

He raises an eyebrow. She supposes? “So, you help with the translation?”

Shaking her head, she replies, “No, not really. I’m more of an assistant to Sollux, finding books in the archives, or in the mass piles on the desks…” She looks at them disapprovingly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m busy.” She silently moves to the nearest desk and begins to arrange the materials upon it.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

_Painpainpainpainpainpainpain OH GOD IT HURTS MAKE IT STOP PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPPPLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!_

Dave screams his back arching in pain

_MAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!_

Lava is coursing through his veins singeing his organs and fraying his sanity he looks down at his hands and notices his fingernails encrusted in blood he wonders what happened then realizes its his own deep scratches run down his face trying to make the pain stopPLEASEMAKEITSTOPPLEASELETITSTOP he digs his fingernails into his face once more he doesnt want to but he cant help himself he wonders if anyone will hear his screams then remembers his apartment is soundproofed for his fucking music why did he do that hes an idiot he shouldve known something like this would happen why didnt he god it hurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsITHUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The trolls rolls back to them in a wheeled chair. “Right, okay, so what do you know about the Demons Four?”

“Wait, there are four of them?” He thinks that the Voice mentioned something like that.

Sollux sighs, kneading his brow. “Oh, this is going to be a long day.”

“Okay, so listen up. There is a secret cult called the Felt. You said you were attacked by a strange man in black robes? That was most likely a member. The Felt both reveres and despises you. “

“So… a love/hate relationship?”

“No interruptions. But yes, kinda like Vriska and Tavros. I think. Who knows what’s going on with them? But yeah, back to the topic. In some ancient mythology-that-I-haven't-quite-fully-translated-yet, there was a prophecy that four Demons would come to this earth. Two of the Demons preside over the corporeal realm—Devour and Erase.  The other two preside over the ethereal realm. Nowadays, that usually means something along the lines of spirits, but back in the days of Alternia—that’s the realm from which we are gathering our knowledge, by the way—it meant “Of the mind”. So Corrupt and Lie can affect the mind.”

“So what’s the deal with the cult liking and hating us?”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO INTERUPTIONS!” The kid roars. Holy shit and he had thought Karkat was scary!

Growling, he resumes his tirade, “I don’t know. That’s actually all we have currently. There are some other vague references to Armageddon and some other demons, but yeah…”

“Wait, that’s all you have?”

“Yep.”

“After an entire week?”

He grits his teeth. “I don’t think how you appreciate how hard this translation is. First off, we have to actually find the correct books relating to the Alternian lore. Next, we have to actually translate it. Now, this language is so ancient we have to go through three other languages just to get it into English. Not to mention that their grammar was completely different from ours, so we have to take all the words and form them into coherent sentences. But wait, there’s more! Considering the fact that we have to go through three other languages, and each different language has multiple meanings for each word, we still have to figure out which word they meant to use! AND THEN WE HAVE TO GET OUT ALL THE REDUNDANT INFORMATION, BECAUSE BY GOD THEY LOVED THAT SORT OF THING! NEXT WE HAVE TO FILTER OUT ANYTHING NON RELEVANT TO OUR CASE, SUCH AS CULTURE, WHICH IS ABOUT 90% OF THE INFO!”

As Sollux’s voice has been steadily rising, John has been steadily shrinking back. But the kid’s shoulders suddenly slump and he looks exhausted. “The thing is, translating ancient languages isn’t easy. This isn’t some story, and if it is we got a really shitty author. This week we’ve mainly been practicing on our translation and finding the right books. We’re basically just breaking the ice. Hopefully next time we’ll have more for you.”

John giggles at the thought of being a character in a story, before dismissing the idea as ridiculous. This obviously pisses the kid off, “SO YEAH, JUST COME BACK IN A WEEK! OR BETTER YET, WE’LL CALL YOU! YOU GOT A PHONE, RIGHT?!”

God, is this kid bipolar?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hehehehe… hahahahahahaha….. Dave giggles as he makes a carpet angel in the middle of the floor. Happy happy happy is the only word to describe him right now. He ogles everything around him, admiring The Glow. The Glow, everything around him emits The Glow. The Glow is all and he is the Glow. He can’t believe he hasn’t noticed it before; it’s so bright and comforting. And he knows, deep down, he can even manipulate The Glow. He feels a power, emanating from him, something he’s always had but he’s never had it. He points his finger at a nearby vase and tries to increase the glow, but he can’t do that. Of course, what was he thinking, it’s obvious! He dims it. And watches at it dissolves into a black and grey static before vanishing. Dave giggles in self admiration. Happy happy happy.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

John heads home after exchanging phone numbers with Karakt (Oh, this can’t be good). Sollux warned that the Felt will probably still be out after him, and anyone else who turns out to be a Demon. But something’s still bugging him, something he can’t quite recall (but then again, he is John Egbert. That isn't anything new.)… Lie… Corrupt… Erase… Erase? The Voice comes flooding back to him:

**_WE WELCOME TO STOIC DEMON ERASE TO THE FOLD_ **

His stomach plummets as he recalls the foreboding message, he starts running home. He calls Dave but gets no answer. _Shit shit shit shit shit!_

He calls Rose and warns her, babbling that something might be wrong with Dave please call Jade oh  crap I’m home gotta go bye, hangs up the phone and slams into the door.

Crap, keys, keys, WHERE ARE HIS KEYS! He finally locates them in his pocket, shakily puts one in the lock and bursts into the apartment.

He looks down and sees Dave laying spread out on the ground; giggling to himself. His shades have fallen off and his eyes gleam with insanity. He puts a finger at John, cackling, “John! I SEE IT! I SEE IT ALL!”

John narrowly dodges out of the way as he feels an invisibly energy pass by him. He turns and sees a nearby picture fade to gray static and vanish. He turns to Dave, ready for a fight, but Dave seems to have sobered up instantly. He’s crying, curled in the fetal position and asking for some pills that are in his room.

 John runs there and locates the packet lying on a bedside table and rushes back with a glass of water and two pills. Dave’s changed again and throws a childlike temper-tantrum, and John ends up shoving the pills down his throat. And then he’s crying again, and John’s holding Dave and telling him that everything will be okay, and for the first time notices the deep scores marking his face, and he can only hug Dave and wait for everyone to arrive.


	4. Vertigo

Ten minutes after Dave received his pills he was sober enough to think straight again. Five minutes after that he could form coherent sentences. And then the girls arrived and everything went to hell.

They each had a spare key to the other apartment in cases of emergency, and Rose had apparently decided that this was most certainly a viable choice. She burst into the apartment, followed closely by Jade. Jade immediately skids to a halt upon seeing Dave— not that he could blame her. His face was covered in blood. His nails were encrusted in blood. His shirt was even stained (Aww man, he really liked this shirt). Head wounds have a nasty tendency to bleed profusely. She opens her mouth to scream, but instead opts to faint. With a Strider-like speed, John dashes over to catch her, kicking the door shut with one foot. It was quite graceful, really. Must be demon juju. Dave has to say that he’s grateful, he still doesn’t think he can stand.

On the other hand, Rose seems to be taking this rather well. She gives him a once-over then heads to their bathroom, returning with a medical kit. She tends to her brother, cleaning the blood off his face and _generously_ applying rubbing alcohol to his scratches. She’s really good at this passive-aggressive stuff.

Dave blinks away the tears as John exits Dave’s room. He chucks a clean shirt at Dave, who nods gratefully.

“Where’s Jade?” He asks as he exchanges shirts.

“Uh, I Just put in your bed for now. If she doesn’t wake up soon I’ll take her to their house.”

“Does anyone plan on letting me know what happened here?” Rose asks with a pointed look at John.

“Hey, I know as much as you do.”

And now they’re both staring at Dave. Fun times. So he proceeds to relate his epic adventures starting a few days ago. He has to hand it to them; they remain perfectly quite until he finished his tale. Once he finishes, Rose gives him an inquisitive glance.

“You said… Doctor Scratch treated you? What happened to Doctor Salvador?”

“Uh, he was out sick. Why?”

“I just find it highly suspicious that the same man treats both you and John, and you end up becoming these… demons.”

Which reminds him. “Oh yeah, Ebert, what did you find out?”

John briefly regurgitates what Sollux told him. His two friends listen, their brows furrowing in worry.

“Hmmm... so it's not going to get any better, is it?" Dave asks.

“Not in the foreseeable future, no. But… I want you two to avoid Doctor Scratch in the meantime. I don’t like it, we’ve never heard of this man before, but he suddenly appears in town and the two of you change. And then John gets attacked by some cultists…”

"Hey sis, you don't need to tell me that."

John just nods, eyes narrowed.

Then Dave turns to him. "So you don't have any self defense training whatsoever, right?"

“Ummm, well, no. But I do have the powers and streng—“

“No nono, that’s not enough. You need some _real_ training. Look, I’ll call in a teacher to help you. I don’t want to see you end up in the news tomorrow because your powers failed you for some reason.”

Dave pulls out his phone and exits the room. He comes back in a few minutes. “Right, in a few days shit’s gonna get REAL, so prepare yourself Egbert. Prepare!”

“Who’d you call?”

“That’s a secret.”

John sighs. “Okay, be that way. Anyways, get yourself some sleep, I’ll bring Jade back to her home. We don’t have school tomorrow, so make sure you’re well rested.”

“Yes ma’am.”

John just sighs again. Why them?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Aaron Desponde, proud member of The Felt, lurks in the shadows of the local arcade. His master informed him that the new Demon frequented this location when he was bored. He unsheathes the dagger strapped to his thigh and admires the shimmering blade. Such fine craftsmanship; this unique blade was only found among the higher ranking members of the cult. And he had just been accepted a while back, after the first Demon killed his superior. The jangling of a bell snaps him back to reality and he glances up to see his target walking into the building.

The kid takes a few steps forward before noticing Aaron. He freezes, probably staring at Aaron, though his tinted glasses make it hard to tell. After a few moments, he nods to the man. “’Sup?”

How adorable. It was obvious that the kid was terrified, no matter how brave he tried to act. Aaron grins and raises his knife. “Hello there Stoic Demon.”

“Yo. How’s it going?”

“Very well, now that you have arrived.”

"Mehehe, I'm going to have to kill you now. Nothing personal, of course. You're just a nuisance to my Master."

The kid nods. "A'ight, cool story bro."

Ah, the poor scared youth. As Aaron charges, he reminds himself that the boy won’t have to suffer for long.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Gah…. What happened….."

He rolls over to see the Demon squatting by him.

“You.. uh... didn't last long.”

“But… I have trained my entire life for this! For years I have trained under my elders, learning the ways of war and combat. We know combat arts that have been lost throughout the ages. How is this possible!?”

"You haven't met my bro."

“But…" He sighs. "Fine. So be it. Just make it quick.”

“Eh?”

“You have won. My life is forfeit.”

“Oh shit. No way in _hell_ that’s happening!”

“But… you won.”

“The most pathetic fight in existence.Who goes down in one punch!?”

“Bu… I… Don’t rub it in!” He whined.

The kid winces. “Ah, this is so not cool. No nono, this shit’s so uncool it’s hot. Like the sun. Damn, you’re ruining my groove. Look, I'm leaving, so… bye”

Aaron watches the kid leave before he staggers up, nursing a bruised temple. As he wonders what he should do, he supposes that it would actually be rather impressive to survivor an encounter with a Demon. Maybe he'd get some fans.


	5. Possession

After a relatively uneventful weekend, John supposes that it is only fair when five members of the Felt hunt him down after school on this lovely afternoon. Hiding behind a dumpster, he peeks out to see if the coast in clear yet, only to see the men conversing not ten feet away.

He ducks back down, letting out a small whimper as he begins to hyperventilate. He’s tried to open up another vortex but can’t. The flashbacks from the first time still haunt him; he still has nightmares of the look of pure terror on the face of the cultist whose life he had ended. After all his macho talk about using his powers, in the field he was still helpless. Damn it, Dave was right. He couldn’t rely on his powers if he was too terrified to use them.

**_WHAT DOEST THOU WAIT FOR DEVOUR_ **

“I-I can’t” John gasps. He thinks he’s going to pass out.

**_HURRY UP DOES THOUST WISH TO DIE_ **

“N-N-No… but…” Footsteps.Excited shouts. They’ve heard him. He hears a deep, echoing sigh.

**_THEN ALLOW ME TO GUIDE THEE_ **

He feels an the otherworldly presence brush against the edge of his conscious. It wasn't so much of a demand as an invitation. He felt deep, ancient power that as vast as the universe willing the grant him powers beyond human reckoning, all it asks for in return is control. John instantly thinks of the Cthuly thing that Rose was always interested in. With a sense of foreboding, he hesitantly accepts the offer.

**_ALL MY POWER I BEQUEATH UNTO THEE_ **

He instantly thinks he might regret it. What he feels is a power beyond power. It’s like trying to stuff the seven seas into a zip-lock bag. He gasps, arching his back as this being enters his body. He hears bones pop and muscle shift as his skin stretches to the breaking point. And the power keeps flooding in till John feels like he might explode, but then it suddenly stops. Silence.

He’s no longer in control of his body. He no longer exists. John Egbert has died, yet he hasn’t. He is still John Egbert, but something less, something more. Universal wisdom floods into his mind, then the entity merges with his being, and he truly no longer exists.

Then They stand. They look down at Their skin. It’s dark gray, with strange black runes shifting silently over Their being, everchanging. They catches a glimpse of Themself in a nearby window, and notice that Their eyes are glowing icey blue, Their pale lips a stretched tight in a feral grin, then They draw the dagger from Their pocket and advance upon the cultists. The cultists skid to a halt when they seem Them. “N-noble Demon?”

They answer him with a stab to the neck. He falls, a rivulet of blood spurting from his neck. **_“SILENCE KNAVE”_** They growl angrily.

“No…” another mutters in horror. “It can’t be… L-lor—“ Before he can finish his statement They reach out and crush his neck. They pause and watch blood spurt out of his mouth before turning to the three remaining cultists running away, then everything _shifts_

The trio skids to a halt as They appear before them. They frown. “ ** _WE DON’T THINK RUNNING SHALL SAVE YOU THIS TIME”_**

Raising Their hand, a devour nexus rips the air asunder, dissipating the men before they even have time to scream. They devour the cadavers too, because They are smart enough to not leave evidence behind. They nod, satisfied.

John collapses as the being leaves his body. He groans, exhausted. Every fiber of his being aches, and he just wants to curl up in a corner and cry.

**_IF THOU WISHES TO AVOID THIS IN THE FUTURE THOU SHOULD TAKE THY TRAINING MORE SERIOUSLY_ **

He thinks he might not mention this to his friends for a while.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Hey, look whose ba—oh shit, what happened to you?”

“I, uh, was attacked again, and… stuff… happened.”

Dave grunts indifferently. “And I suppose you got your ass handed to you? I did warn you, bro. Well fear not, your personal trainer is here. Ta-Da!”

He waves his arms to the side dramatically as Dirk Strider emerges from the shadows.  He nods at John. “Sup?”

“Oh, hey Dirk!” John beams brightly. “I guess that means you’ll be training me?”

“Hell yes. Hell _FUCKING_ Yes. Gimme a few weeks and you’ll be a Strider-certified ass kicker.”Unlike Dave, he doesn’t try to hide his Texan drawl. It goes well with his deep voice.

“Okay, so I guess that means we’ll be sparring then?”

Dirk laughs. It’s a low, sinister sound. “Of course not.”

John can only briefly ponder what this means before he notices Lil’ Cal zooming towards his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a nice bit of the story written so far, and it's now officially summer vacation so I'll have spare time to write, so I've decided to update biweekly now.


	6. Another End

The next two weeks inch by, taking forever to pass. John quickly falls into the routine of waking up and defending himself from Dirk, heading to school to learn, defending himself from Dirk during lunch, heading back to class, defending himself from Dirk during World History, heading home, turning tail and running away from Dirk, and finally reaching home and defending himself from Dirk once again (After the first few days, he had decided that John had earned the right to fight him instead of Lil’ Cal).

He hardly gets any time to himself anymore. He can’t hang out with his friends or study for school. Once he and Rose decided to go to a fancy Italian restaurant to celebrate being alive (because when shit gets real, you begin to appreciate the little things). Dirk decided to show up and make sure John was “aware of his surroundings”. Going to a job application? Hey there Dirk! Trying to see the latest Nick Cage movie? Come join us, Dirk! Eerily enough, no one seemed to notice their fights. Dirk said that it was the sheer Strider awesomness that he exuded, but John thinks that he simply bribes them. He _was_ filthy rich.

On the other hand, he hadn’t seen the Felt throughout the entire two weeks. He had the sneaking suspicion that Dirk had something to do with that.

And living with Dirk! You couldn’t take five steps without stepping on some plush rump. THE SMUPPETS! THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! THEY WATCHED HIM WHILE HE SHOWERED! THEY WATCHED HIM WHILE HE SLEPT!

However, he is aware of the benefits of the training. While he hasn’t needed to build up strength, his reflexes have gotten infinitely better, and he can now perform Strider style flash steps (Dave has mixed feelings of pride and disappointment about that). But the training is running him haggard. He’s always tired, and let’s face it: his grades don’t need to get any lower.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dirk grunts his fist impacts John’s hand. He has to admit, the kid learns fast. And he only spent three days crying when was subjected to The Strider Enhancement Program of Doom, Sorrow, Despair… and More doom to Improve Reflexes and Overall Combat Ability on the Field (or the SEPDSD…DIROCAF for short). The kid now moved like a Strider, fast and dangerous. His reflexes have been honed to a deadly edge, just as the situation required. Dirk quickly flips the boy over and pins him to the ground.

“Peace, man. You’ve done well.”  
“Umm, thanks.”

He puts a finger to the kid’s lips. “Shhhh, you have much to learn. However, I’ve taught you all I can.”

“But.. you haven’t taught me anything. I mean, you still haven’t told me about strategies or even more advanced martial arts. You’ve really only taught me how to throw a few basic punches and kicks. Hell, after the first few days all you’ve been doing is atta—“

“Hush. Some things must be learned on their own.”

“Yeah, but not _that_ kind of stu—“

“Shhhhh, you’ve done well young grasshopper.” He leans steps back and pulls a sword out of his pocket, presenting it to his latest pupil. “Take this blade. With it, you have now become one of the Strider Clan. You now fight to bestow honor and glory upon us; always remember that you fight with the five virtues: Diligence. Integrity.Strength. Wisdom…. Ummm….And more Diligence.And Strength.”

“That’s six—“

“Your’s is not to question, but to learn.”

“But you aren’t teaching me anymore.”

“Just shut up and take the damn blade.” The boy hesitantly grabs it. “With it, I now dub thee Ass Kicker. Go forth, badass, and conquer evil in our name.”

John glances down to admire the shiny surface of the blade. Turning back to Dirk, he retorts, “But I’m not eve—“Dirk is gone. He sighs. “Sneaky bastard.”

His phone rings. Answering it, he winces as Karakt screams in his ear to, “Hurry and come over here, we’ve got something important to tell you!”

Grabbing a jacket, he starts to head out the door when Dave, Jade, and Rose burst in, Dave attempting to drop kick John’s face. John merely rolls under him and catches him in a headlock.

Dave scowls. “Damn it, I forgot about that training.”

John grins and releases his friend, turning to greet the entourage. “So whats up?”

Jade giggles and Rose sighs. “I suppose it’s forgivable, seeing as you have had a lot going on, that you might forget this most important date.”

John frowns furiously racking his brain for whatever detail he might have missed. What’s going on today!?

Jade finally can’t contain herself and bursts into laughter, hitting him on the head with a present concealed behind her back. “It’s your birthday, silly!”

Wait, what!? That can’t be, it’s only—no, it actually is April the 13th. Man, time flies fast when you’re getting the crap beaten out of you by your best friend’s older brother/father. He laughs as his friends shove presents into his arms from themselves and their guardians, you he quickly texts Karkat that he won’t be able to come today.

Rose and Dave move towards the door. “You should see the cake we got you!”

The room goes dead quiet. You could cut the tension with a knife. After a beat, Dave quips, “Don’t worry, it’s an ice cream cake. That’s not so bad, right?”

“It could be worse.”John concedes.

Grinning in victory, the two rush out the door to get the cake. They celebrate as he opens his gifts: a dark blue scarf with emerald trimming from Rose; a few games from Dave and Jade (they had pooled their money together); lots of cake mix from his father, along with a few board games and some money; and… his first drink from Rose’s mother. But he’s still three years away from the legal drinking age? The friends share a knowing look and stash in the fridge. They’ll figure out what to do with it later.

Admiring all of his new loot, he forgets about Karkat's message as his friends break out the dvd player on Dave's hi-def tv. Rose curls up in his lap as they start a Ghostbusters marathon, much to his delight. He sighs contentedly. Despite the dangerous situations, life could not be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here goes the end of another segment of this tale. Let me know what you thought, good or bad, and I'll see you next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Any questions, comments, concerns, or criticisms will be greatly appreciated.


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